By Jeffrey Blehar
Wednesday, April 29, 2026
A brief dispatch from the world of congressional comedy,
because in all honesty we’re starved for any kind of comedy these days. On
Monday, Environmental Protection Agency chief Lee Zeldin — formerly a
congressman from Long Island — sat before the House Appropriations Committee to
defend the Trump administration’s proposed cuts to the agency’s wildly bloated
budget. Ranking Democrat Rosa DeLauro, of Connecticut — she of the famously
purple hair and crone-like demeanor — was having none of it, of course, and
came intending to read Zeldin the riot act:
The budget proposal reads like a
climate change denier’s manifesto. When climate change is flooding our streets,
poisoning our air, driving up healthcare and disaster cots [sic], how
can the EPA justify abandoning that duty to protect Americans to appease
polluters under the false flag of economic growth?
In other words: more of the same, in terms of
off-the-rack Democratic rhetoric. (Only Captain Planet villains or Aaron
Sorkin characters normally “appease polluters” under the “false flag” of
growth.) Was it completely uninformed by law? Of course — I would expect no
less, in terms of argumentative persuasiveness, from any given moron on social
media.
And unfortunately for us, Rosa DeLauro is not some mere
Bluesky interlocutor, though I suppose her political understanding is
interchangeable with one; she is the most powerful Democratic appropriator in
the House. She didn’t read the statutes or the governing precedent; she read
only from a text prepared by her staffers. Same as it ever was, as least as far
as televised House committee hearings go.
But this time I want to applaud Zeldin for having the
temerity to fire back at this kind of ignorance, and the composure to do so in
such a hilariously low-key, stubborn way. “Following the law? Section 202 of
the Clean Air Act: Where does it say anything about global climate change.” It
was phrased as a question but inflected in his neutral tone to come across as a
statement. Then he refers to the recent Court precedent that significantly
reduced the scope of the EPA’s regulatory authority: “Loper Bright.
Supreme Court case — you familiar with it?”
“No, I-I-um, maybe others are, but let me ask you—.” At
which point Zeldin politely interrupts: “But that’s really important as
a member of Congress.” Later, in full (and fully justified) condescension mode,
he ever-so-politely replies, over a yowling, gummy-voiced DeLauro, “I
understand you’re upset that you don’t know what Loper Bright is . . .
you’re very defensive about not knowing the two biggest landmark Supreme Court
cases of the last year with regard to your question.”
DeLauro just kept shouting on. It was hilarious, in that
“grandma tries not to lose her dentures while ranting” way — she really needed
a cane to wave crazily in the air for emphasis — but also thoroughly
insufferable. I recommend the full clip only for those who enjoy punishment.
(And some of you will no doubt watch; my theory is that most political junkies
are secret masochists.)
Zeldin’s defense hinged on technical legal arguments — I
could unpack them further here, but that is beside the point. (I do cringe
slightly to hear Zeldin call the major questions doctrine the “major policies
doctrine,” but I know what he meant.) The point is that Zeldin understands the
legal world that governs the EPA — and it has changed significantly in recent
years! — while DeLauro simply does not. More to the point: She does not care
that she is ignorant of law. The law may have changed, but her feelings
haven’t. And she represents the good people of her state, faithfully.
So that’s why I enjoyed a moment where Lee Zeldin, who
bears an uncanny vocal and physical resemblance to actor and former SNL writer
Jim Downey, channeled the spirit of Downey’s
quiz-bowl host from Billy Madison: stunned disbelief at the
ignorance of the person he had to talk to. The only thing that would have made
Zeldin’s appearance more satisfying was if he had concluded by saying, “I award
you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.”
No comments:
Post a Comment